This is the age of influencers. They are the most sought-after set of people whose recommendations influence buying decisions. Today, influencers are no longer a few celebrities only, but even micro-influencers with a smaller fan following also impact how people buy things today. So, no surprise that in 2022, influencer marketing will be a $10 billion industry.
From macro to micro levels, influencers of all scales are instrumental in generating awareness about a brand. Most new businesses and even established brands need the services of influencers when launching a new product or service in a highly competitive market.
With a strategic approach, influencer marketing can do wonders in spreading brand awareness, which is so crucial in the growth of a brand.
What is brand awareness?
To put it simply, brand awareness is all about how much people keep a brand in their minds while buying something from the market or online. A brand will grow faster in its niche market if it is the first thing people think about. This means that other alternative products or services will struggle to become an automatic choice for consumers. We can say that the more people are familiar with a brand, the higher are its chances of outcompeting other brands.
It can be said that by building strong brand awareness, businesses can build trust for what they make and sell. So, awareness leads to trust, which is the first essential step in the sales funnel.
Influencer marketing works well for brand awareness, especially in the modern digital age. It has replaced conventional word-of-mouth publicity. Ever-expending digital mediums have further helped in involving influencers in promotional campaigns. Thanks to digitization, today’s audience’s responses are easier to measure.
Why are influencers successful in generating brand awareness?
Influencers can help build brand awareness in several ways. Influencers create great content on social media where millions of their followers use that content. So, the followers lap up influencers’ recommendations of a product or service.
Know that influencers have direct contact with their followers as there is no middle person. So, when an influencer talks about something, people are more receptive to the content. Also, a positive review from an influencer goes a long way in encouraging people to think of that product.
Another reason for the influencers’ success in generating brand awareness is creating fresh content regularly. Audiences wait for such engaging and entertaining content that humanizes a brand.
How do influencers help increase brand awareness?
Find the right influencers.
First, you should find the right influencer that comes from your niche. Know that there are several types of influencers, and not all of them are big celebrities. Most of the macro-influencers are big celebrities with millions of followers, but they are out of the reach of smaller businesses due to expensive fees.
So, find out some micro-influencers with a smaller number of followers. They are highly influential when it comes to exerting an impact on the limited crowd. If you cannot afford the expensive fees of macro-influencers, then start with micro-influencers, also known as nano-influencers.
An advantage of smaller audiences of nano influencers is that you can engage them personally, which results in a better engagement rate. Also, followers can relate to these micro-influencers who do not lead extravagant lifestyles.
Run referral programs
An effective way to use influencers to increase our brand awareness is to start a referral program for them. Studies have revealed that most consumers show their buying intention when a trusted influencer promotes a product.
You can share a unique promo code for a specific influencer, who will then share the code with followers through content. Sharing the code and the promotional link is a surefire way to drive consumers’ attention to products.
But make sure that while running a referral program, the influencer mentions your brand name on their social media channels and blogs. This measure will help build social trust for your brand.
Use unboxing and tutorial videos
One of the proven ways to explore influencers to generate brand awareness is to send them a packed product and request them to make an unboxing video. Then, they can post that video on their social media account, which millions of their followers will see. Such an unboxing video of your product will generate excitement and helps drive people’s attention to your product.
Use unboxing videos, particularly when launching a new product in the market and people are not much familiar with it. One reason why unboxing videos is crucial to brand awareness is that such videos gather tons of views, leading to high engagement rates.
People come to know about your product, packaging, features, and its feel from the influencer’s point of view. This generates a buzz for your product.
Tutorial and how-to videos teach consumers how to use a product in the right way, and people like to visit such videos. This is because they have more confidence in these videos than in the instructions that come with a product. This is because tutorial videos are visuals that interestingly show the instruction. Therefore, getting the instruction through videos seems less stressful than reading them on a package.
Make sure that your packaging displays your business logo prominently so that when an influencer unpacks, the logo is visible clearly to the audience.
Use testimonials from influencers
Your website might have users’ testimonials, but not all the customers leave a review and share their experience with the brand. But an advantage of working with influencers is that you can bring their testimonial of the brand to your website. You can display the influencer’s testimonial about your brand on the full scale on your website as proof of the brand’s quality.
Let influencers use your social media account.
An effective way to use influencers is to let them post on your social media account regularly for a certain period. The influencer will be posting some content specific to your brand, which will drive more of their followers to your social account and brand.
With a long-time use of your social account, an influencer can add value and prestige since people will treat the account as if it belongs to the influencer. That is a great way to make millions of influencers’ followers aware of your brand.
Ask influencers for product reviews.
People tend to read product reviews before they take any buying decision. They want to know how users react to the product and how they rate it. This is where you can bring in an influencer and ask the celebrity to say something positive about your product.
Influencers can create great content around your product. Such quality original content will surely help convert viewers and readers into buyers. So, when people see influencers reviewing a product, people have more trust in the product and brand. You can request influencers for a live review of your products for more impact.
Long term brand ambassadors
An influencer can be your long-term brand ambassador to generate brand awareness to a greater extent. This is because the influencer will help get great exposure for your brand. As a result, people will have your brand in their minds for that long period.
For more comprehensive coverage of the population from different backgrounds, you can bring in multiple influencers to your board, which will take your brand to even a significant number of people.
So, get an influencer from your niche and bring that celebrity to your board for many more years. You can then leverage this relationship to create specific content with the influencers, which, in turn, will expand brand awareness.
Run social media contests
Several marketers are already running social media contests which are a tool to interact with people and engage them with a brand. But these contests can bring more brand awareness if you can bring in an influencer to it. That will drive much-required attention to your brand.
To entice more people to join your contest, you can offer them attractive discounts, gifts, vouchers, and freebies. Another luring factor will be offering the contest winner a chance to meet the influencer they like.
How to reach out to an influencer?
Now that you know how to explore an influencer’s powers to spread brand awareness, next you should reach out to an influencer. But that is not an easy job, especially when you’re trying to approach macro-influencers with millions of followers. Here are some considerations:
First, research the right type of influencer for your products or services. Prefer an influencer who is already posting content that best suits your brand. If, for example, you are in a restaurant business and want to promote your new menu, then find out an influencer who is known for posting visual and text content about food and dining out.
Make sure that such an influencer is a genuine and legit person. You should go through their posts and see the quality of the content. Find out the engagement ratio, which should be very high if the influence is genuine. You should also check the comments, which seem to be spam and made-up comments, then take that a fraudulent account and keep away from it.
To have some in-depth information about an influencer, you can use analytics tools with most social media platforms. You can easily find out what potential an influencer holds for spreading awareness about your brand.
Wrapping Up
Influencers are a significant factor in generating brand awareness. They help brands spread the word quickly as consumers have faith and trust in what influencers recommend. Brands can use influencers in many ways, including testimonials, visual and text content, unboxing and tutorial videos, and letting them post on your social media account.
